I live to protect you
by LoveandVanity
Summary: When Jane returns to Boston after 10 years, she is forced to start her life over again. This means working in the Boston Police department, but with new cases and friends. When Maura Isles comes into her life, she remembers what it means to live.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue **

Jane stood nervously in the airport waiting for her little brother to pick her up. She left her hometown of Boston ten years ago in her twenties, with no intention of returning. There were too many things she needed to forget, and she had to get away in order to do that.

"Well, you haven't changed at all in ten years, have you?" a male voice said.

Jane whipped around and smiled. Standing in front of her was her little brother. He was sporting his cop uniform with a goofy smile on his face.

"That badge make you feel special Frankie?" Jane asked smiling and nudging him in the shoulder. Out of all the people she left behind, her brother was the one she missed the most. They had always had a special connection. Frankie understood Jane. Sometimes she thought he was the only one.

"It's good to see you Janie," Frankie said, grabbing her suitcase and walking towards the exit. Jane grimaced at the nickname. He was the only one allowed to call her that, but she hated it with a fiery passion.

They walked back to the car silently. She never thought she would be back here. She had made a life for herself in New York City. A life that she was proud of. She had the Boston Police transfer her over to the New York detective unit, and lived in a studio apartment facing Central Park. She was finally happy and free of her past. But when she got a phone call from her mother saying that her father was sick and she should come home, Jane had no other choice.

"_Well well well, it looks like detective Jane Rizzoli is weaker than she makes herself seem."_

The haunting voice rang in Jane's head as they drove by the once familiar buildings. She shivered and pulled her legs closer to her chest. Looking out the passenger window, she closed her eyes and tried hard not to think about what had happened to her all those years ago.

She must have fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes again Frankie was pulling her suitcase out of the trunk. She got out of the car and looked at her home. It was a typical Greek Italian house with a cross on the door and blue shutters. Growing up, Jane and Frankie didn't have much. Their father was a plumber, their mother was a stay-at-home mom, and they lived in a neighborhood where kids would get jumped for looking at someone the wrong way. Jane spent most of her time hanging with her brother and his friends, playing basketball or soccer. She was fine with that. She had never been much of a girly girl, despite her mom's desperate attempts of getting her in a dress, which turned out all right since she had to be tough to be a cop.

"How is pop Frank?" She asked him. Immediately, his expression changed. He solemnly grinned and looked her straight in the eye.

"You know pop," he said, "He's a fighter."

As soon as Jane entered the house the smell of fresh garlic filled her nostrils.

"Smells good ma," Jane said entering the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"Jane you're here!" Her mom dropped her wooden spoon and embraced Jane in a tight huge. "I missed you. It's about time you came back to your family where you belong."

Jane winced. It had been a while since her mom hugged her like that. She looked sad, and old. They had seen each other through the years whenever Jane got time off, but they had always gone to New York. She didn't know if it was because of her father's sickness, or because it really had been a long time since Jane saw her mother, but she looked much older than Jane remembered, and worry lines creased her forehead.

"Whoa ma, not so tight." Jane said, pulling away and studying her mother more closely. "Where's dad? I want to say hi."

"He's in the garage. He's so stubborn your father! The doctors tell him to stay in bed but he doesn't listen. He's going to make himself more sick and he will get no sympathy from me when he does." Her mom said it loud enough so that he would hear her.

Jane rolled her eyes and walked into the garage. She was used to seeing her father hard at work. Today, he was working on an old car that had been in the garage ever since Jane was a kid. She smiled at the sight.

"Still haven't given up on this old piece of junk I see." She leaned against the doorframe and watched her dad work. When he finally looked up from inside the hood to see who was talking to him, he grinned.

"Rizzoli's never give up," he said putting down his tools. It was something she had heard many times before. Jane's father taught her to be tough. When kids were bullying her in elementary school, he taught her to fight back. When she thought she wouldn't make it through police training, he told her that she was wrong and would be better than anyone else in the force. She never thought he would be right, but Jane had gone from being a rookie cop to one of the best detectives the Boston Police Department had ever seen, and she had her father to thank for never letting her give up.

"You look good dad," Jane said to him while they hugged.

"Liar," he laughed and led her back into the kitchen, "Come on, dinner smells like it's almost ready."

He looked at his daughter. She had changed so much in the last ten years. She was still sarcastic and witty, but she carried herself differently. There was wisdom in her eyes, and worry. She looked about the same, if not a little older and more experienced. He missed having her around and was happy to see her in his home again.

"It's good to have you home Jane," he said before closing the garage door behind him and entering the amazing smelling kitchen.

Jane didn't want to say it out loud for fear of hearing "I told you so" from everyone in her family, but it felt good to be home. She missed her mother's homemade Italian meals; she missed her father's humor and her brother's not so subtle jabs. Everything about Jane had changed in the 10 years she had been away from home, but nothing about her home had changed. It was refreshing.

As she was getting ready to go to sleep, her phone rang. Without looking at it, she picked it up and instinctively answered it as she always does.

"Rizzoli."

A familiar, yet unexpected voice greeted her on the other end of the telephone. It was one she hadn't heard in a long time, but she was happy to hear.

"Korsack," she said smiling "What can I do for you?"

"It's sergeant now," Korsack responded, "I heard you're in town. We'd love to have you back on our team Jane, you were the best."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

It took little convincing on Korsak's part to get Jane to agree to go back to work. Detective work had been her life ever since she had graduated from high school. And since her parents couldn't afford to send her to college she joined the force right away. It took her a while to work her way up, but when she did, she became one of the most respected detectives in Boston. She prided herself on knowing that people trusted her to keep them safe.

"That was Korsak," Jane said going back into the living room to say good night, "he wants me to go back to work." She tried hard not to look at her mom when she said it. Her mom had never approved of Jane working in the police department and got even more upset when Frankie decided to follow in her footsteps.

"That's great Jane. They're lucky to have you." Her dad said, being supportive as always.

"Now I get to learn from the best," Frankie flashed her one of his prize-winning smiles.

"If you make it that far." Jane teased him.

It was all she could ask for. She wasn't even going to try to get her mom's approval. Jane knew it was a lost cause, just as much as her mom knew she had no chance of convincing Jane to pursue a different career.

"Night then." She said, and she went back into her room to go to sleep.

_"You know Janie, you're just my type. You're thin, a brunette, Italian, but most importantly, you're a woman." Jane was trapped underneath a man who was twice her size. "It's a shame we had to meet under these circumstances Jane. I feel like we could have been great lovers… if you and your friends hadn't been trying to kill me."_

_ She spit in his face and could immediately feel the anger rising inside of him. He stretched his body, grabbed something off of the desk in the room, and straddled her once more pinning her down with her back on the ground. He had one knee on each side of her hips and his face was inches away from hers._

_ She struggled to get free of his grasp. All of a sudden a piercing pain ran through her hands, all the way up her arms and down her spine. She screamed in agony as she looked at her hands and saw that they were pinned to the ground by sharp shivs sticking through her skin. Blood was gushing out of her hands and Jane screamed again. She had never felt anything more painful in her life._

_There was an ear-shattering laugh that filled the room in the warehouse he had taken her. It chilled her bones as it reverberated off the walls and through her eardrums, making her whole body shake._

"_Scream all you want Detective Rizzoli, but no body is going to find you here." She struggled against him as he moved his body closer to her, smelling her neck._

_ She screamed again, begging for help from somebody on the outside. She was certain that any second her partner would come in and find her. She had been missing for a couple hours now. Surely someone had to know she was gone._

_ The man laughed again. There was something demonic in the way he was looking at her. As if he knew something she didn't. As if he had been planning this for months and he was finally getting away with his plan._

_ "You can scream and struggle all you want Janie. I've been watching you for a while now. Studying you. You're good at what you do. If there's a case, you solve it. But you and your police buddies took one thing for granted. I'm Charles Hoyt. I'm unstoppable."_

Jane pinched the corners of her eyes. She had a massive headache from not getting any sleep the night before, and all the paperwork she had to fill out at the police department wasn't helping. Jane woke up in a sweaty panic that morning. It was her first night in Boston and already her past was coming back to haunt her. She hadn't had a dream as vivid as the one she had the night before in years, and she was hoping that she never would.

"How's it going Rizzoli? Almost finished?" Korsak walked into the room followed by a few people. Some she knew, some she didn't.

"Jane this is Frost. He'll be your new partner. Gets a little queasy when it comes to blood, but he's a good one."

"Thanks Korsak," Frost shook Jane's hand, "I've heard a lot about you detective, it'll be a pleasure to learn from you."

"And this is—" A blonde woman stood in front of Korsak while he was starting to introduce her. Jane was surprised to see a woman in the force. There had been plenty of female cops, but never in the homicide unit.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Isles. Dr. Maura Isles," the woman extended her hand for Jane to shake it, "I'm the head medical examiner." Maura smiled and Jane had to take in a little breath. She had never seen a smile like that one before. Like the woman standing in front of her was genuinely happy to meet her.

Jane composed herself and grinned back, shaking Maura's hand.

"Head medical examiner huh? Did you always want to cut open dead people's bodies?"

Maura looked at her as if she was seriously considering the question. After a few seconds of brief silence she smiled again and said in a very matter-of-fact manner, "Yes, actually I think I did. Did you always want to look at people dead and bleeding on the floor?"

"Yes I did," Jane answered with a smile and an inward laugh. She had never met someone who could give her sarcasm right back to her. This was definitely someone she could become friends with.

"I'd love to get a drink with you later on," Maura asked Jane when everybody else had left the room, "get to know each other. I mean, we will be spending so much time together at work, why not get to know each other out of it?"

"Sure, I'd love that," Jane answered Maura and then moved her focus to the rest of the paperwork she had to fill out.

"Great, tonight it is then. We'll go straight after work." Maura walked away leaving Jane alone with her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 7 pm when Jane finally finished all the work she had to do. It had been a long first day back. Things weren't easy, but Jane missed the hustle and bustle of the Boston Police Department. She knew how things worked around there, so it didn't take her too long to get reacquainted. She had cracked the case Korsak was working on in a couple of hours. The evidence suggested that Carrie's husband killed her, but after going over all the facts and questioning the brother, the husband, and her son, it was obvious who had done it.

"You're good," Frost said, walking back from the bathroom, "I never would have figured out that it was her son."

"Yeah, well, that's what ten years of being in the force gets ya." Jane replied with a quick smile.

"It's good to have you back, Jane." Korsak said putting the files on his desk and walking out the door.

At that moment, Maura walked in. Jane immediately turned to her computer and started clicking a bunch of buttons in a lame attempt to look busy. She didn't want to seem to eager for their dinner. She couldn't… She'd been in this position before, and never wanted to be in it again. After what happened to her in New York, Jane promised that she would never let herself get attached to anyone. Her heart couldn't handle it.

"Hi Jane," Maura smiled, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let me just grab my coat. Does Emmet's work for you? I could really use a beer."

"Sure, we can stop by your place so you can change." Maura said, checking her hair in the mirror.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Oh… Nothing! I just figured you wouldn't want to wear your work clothes out to dinner."

"It's just a bar Maura," Jane said, "I'm fine in my work clothes. I'll meet you there, k?"

Emmet's was more crowded than Jane would have expected for a Monday night. Although she hadn't been there in a while, she remembered the usual crowd of Bostonian's who enjoyed a nice cold beer after work. It was weird being back there again. She had left it all behind when she moved. She had made a life for herself in New York. One that she had grown quite accustomed to. And yet, there she was, sitting in her usual bar, at her usual booth. But this time, something was different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but for the first time in a while, Jane felt like she actually belonged there. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't worried about something bad happening.

The door of the bar swung open and Maura walked in. She looked amazing. She had somehow managed to change out of the clothes she was wearing at work, and into a red v-neck dress and black pumps in a matter of 30 minutes. Jane took in a gasp of air when she saw her walk into the bar. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen anyone so beautiful. As Maura walked up to the table and sat down, Jane caught herself wondering what it would have been like if she hadn't left Boston. Would she have met Maura earlier? Would they have had an instant connection? **Stop. **She told herself. She couldn't let this happen again. She wouldn't.

Jane was about 18 when she realized she was gay. She had always known deep down, but didn't admit it to herself. She couldn't. In her family, being gay was out of the question. Rizzoli's got married to nice Italian men and had a nice Italian family. But that was something Jane had never wanted. As a kid, she was never into Barbie dolls or fashion. She liked sports and video games. She liked bending the rules and hanging out with her brother. She liked girls. Always had and always would.

"Wow, you clean up nicely," Jane said as Maura sat down.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a complement." Maura answered, waving over the waiter and ordering a glass of Chardonnay.

Jane had been involved with someone in New York. It didn't take her long to get settled in the city. She had a job, a girlfriend, and an apartment within a month of getting there. Kate Beckett was the exact opposite of Jane. She had light hair and light eyes, a beautiful smile, and the brains of a genius. She was enchanting and inspiring, and Jane felt a connection from the moment she laid eyes on her. Since they were both detectives, they automatically had something in common. Before she knew it, Jane was falling in love, and meeting Beckett was the start to a wonderful life in the city.

"Jane, are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Maura was waving a hand in front of her face.

"Sorry, what?" Jane blushed. She couldn't keep thinking about Kate, but it only made her sad, and she was being rude to Maura.

"I asked you when you knew you wanted to become a detective, " Maura said again, clearly flustered that Jane seemed to be somewhere else completely.

"I don't know," Jane said, "I think I was 12 years old."

"Well, there had to be something that made you decide to go after bad guys," Maura insisted.

"Yeah. Yeah, there was. I was playing in the backyard of my aunt's house and heard a gunshot. I ran to the front lawn and saw my uncle laying face down on the floor with a hole in his back. The guy who did it had run off before anyone could see his face."

As Maura sat there listening to her talk, Jane couldn't help but notice how much she reminded her of Kate. They had the same mannerisms, the same smile, and were very similar in the way they talked. Jane bit the inside of her gum, trying hard not to tear up. She needed to get out of that bar. She couldn't sit there with Maura anymore. Her heart was pumping a mile a minute, her hands were jittery, and her mouth felt dry. What was she thinking going to diner with a woman? It wasn't even a date and Jane couldn't handle it.

Before she knew it, she was standing up and running out the door. She just barely heard Maura asking if she was okay. She couldn't sit there any longer. It hurt too much. She needed to get away. She wouldn't be surprised if Maura never talked to her again, but it was a risk Jane had to take. She couldn't let herself get attached.

Maura caught up to her before she could get away.

"Where are you going? We were having a nice conversation in there."

"I'm sorry Maura. I can't.. I just.. can't."

"You can't what?" Maura was upset.

"This. Maura, I can't do this. I can't sit there and talk to you. Please just understand that."

"I don't understand! Why the hell not?"

"BECAUSE I'M GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU."

Jane turned around and walked the other way, leaving Maura standing outside the bar, looking shocked. For all she knew, Maura was into men and all Jane did by confessing what she just had was scare Maura away.

**Well, that's the end of that friendship. Good thing it never even really started. **Jane thought to herself as she walked home with tears streaming down her face.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Excuse me miss, are you Jane Rizzoli?" Jane spun around. Standing in front of her was a middle-aged man with five o'clock shadow and dark eyes. He had on a buttoned down collared shirt and a pair of acid-wash blue jeans. His hands were shaking by his side, like he was nervous about something. Being the person that she was, Jane smiled and stepped in closer to him._

"_Yes, I am. Can I help you with something?" It was 2 in the morning and they were standing outside Emmet's. Jane was a little drunk. She had been on a date with a girl who was after her for years. She felt bad for her and decided it wouldn't hurt to go out with her, just once. Boy had she learned her lesson. After listening to her talk about her friends, her hair, his first time having sex, and how amazing her mom's spaghetti was, Jane couldn't help but guzzle down beer after beer._

"_Well, yes. I was wondering how fast you can run."_

"_Excuse me?" Jane was utterly confused, and all of a sudden she felt like the world around her was spinning._

"_How fast can you run?" The man moved closer to her, his face just inches away from hers. _

_ There was a knife at her side. Jane could feel the coolness of the blade grazing her hipbone. She turned to run, but the man had his hands wrapped around her wrist._

_ "How much do you want?" Jane asked, "You can have my whole wallet just please, let me go."_

_ She didn't have her gun or her badge. She left it at home after realizing how late she was for her date from hell. She inwardly cursed herself for being so stupid as she struggled to get out from the man's grip._

_ "I don't want your money," he said, a grin on his smug face._

_ "Then what do you want you creep?"_

_ "You Jane, I want you."_

Jane woke up in a cold sweat for the second day in a row. She knew being back in Boston would bring back memories, but she wasn't prepared for how vivid they would be. She got out of bed and went into her bathroom to wash her face. She couldn't believe how stupid she had acted the night before. All Maura wanted to do was get to know her, and Jane had ruined any chance of that happening. She brushed her teeth and got dressed for work, dreading having to see Maura again after what happened.

She went downstairs and saw her mom making breakfast in the kitchen and her father reading the newspaper in his usual chair. They had been arguing over something, cause Jane could feel the tension in the room as soon as she walked in.

"Morning Ma," she said taking the carton of orange juice out of the fridge and pouring herself a glass.

"Morning Jane, would you like some eggs and toast?" Her mom was already putting a generous portion on a plate for her.

"Can't sorry. I'm already late for work."

She kissed her father good-bye and walked out the door, not looking forward to the day she had ahead of her.

She parked in her spot in front of the building and walked in. So far there was no sight of Maura, which Jane was thankful for.

"Hi Bob, can you let me up please?" Jane said to the guy standing at the security desk.

"I just need your badge Detective."  
>"My clearance hasn't gone through yet, I don't have it."<p>

"I'm sorry Jane, no badge, no entrance."

"Oh come on. You know who I am. Just let me in!"

"Rules are rules detective. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"I've got it Bob," Maura said, walking towards them out of nowhere, "Just sign her in under my name."

Jane blushed. "You didn't have to do that, I had it covered."

"Well, from the looks of it, I did have to. It's not a problem though. I was happy to do it." Maura replied. "Can we talk, Jane?"

Talking was the last thing she wanted to do. She didn't want to have to explain herself to Maura. It was hard enough getting settled back into her old life. She didn't want to have to explain to a stranger that she had fallen in love, and then gotten her heart broken after five years of what she thought was a perfect relationship. And from the way Maura had been looking at her last night when Jane lost it, she was sure that Maura would never reciprocate the feelings Jane was starting to develop for her.

"No, I don't think so. I'm late anyways. Thanks for letting me in."

Once again, Jane left Maura standing there looking at her as she stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for her office on the fifth floor.

"Rizzoli." Jane answered her desk phone just as she was about to go down to the café and get some coffee. It had been a long day already and it was only 11:30. She felt like everywhere she walked people were staring at her. They must have heard stories about what had happened to her, but she didn't think people would care as much as they did.

"Where are you?" She asked, checking her watch.

"Alright I'll be right there. Let's go Frost, a body was found dead in the middle of the quad at Boston College."

"What do we got?" Jane asked walking up to Korsak and the body.  
>"Female, age 20, found this morning at 11 o'clock face down on the stairs."<p>

"Do we know what killed her?" Jane asked.

"Two shots to the chest," Maura answered, looking up at Jane from next to the victim's body. "By the looks of where they hit, she died instantly."

"Do you know around what time?" Jane asked Maura, looking anywhere but at her face.

"No, I'd have to run more tests for that." Maura answered. 

"Her name was Carrie Myers," Frost said, walking up to them. "The girl standing over there says she was her best friend."

"Alright Frost, let's go talk to her. Korsak, see if you can find a witness. Maybe they can ID the killer."

"Did Carrie have any enemies?" Jane asked Lily, a 20 year old college student who looked like she would rather be anywhere than standing in front of the two detectives talking about her dead best friend.

"No, everyone loved her." Lily answered softly, "She was a great person."

"Did she have a boyfriend or ex boyfriend? Maybe someone she was fighting with who would have had some motive to hurt her?"

"No one." Lily answered, wiping a tear away with her finger.

"I know this must be hard for you," Jane said putting a hand on her shoulder, "But please let us know if you think of anything that might help us solve who did this to us." She handed the card to Lily and nodded, walking away to let the girl grieve.

It was getting late and everybody but Jane had left the office. They still hadn't been able to figure out who killed Carrie, or why. Jane was at her computer looking over all the evidence they had gathered. Carrie had been out late the night before tutoring Dennis Williams. She left his house at around 8:00, but nobody knows where she went. Dennis's family could vouch for him being home the rest of the night, so he was immediately crossed off the suspect list Jane had in her head. Next was Michael Jacobs. He and Carrie had gone on a couple dates, but nothing too serious. If anything, he would be able to provide Jane more insight as to who Carrie was and why anybody would want to kill her.

"Do you ever go home?" Jane spun around in her chair and saw Maura walking towards her.

"No, actually. Not until I have a better idea on the cases I'm given. This one's tough."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Maura was now looking at the case file over Jane's shoulder.

"Not unless you can tell me why someone would want to harm a girl with straight A's, no history of violence or drug use, and a perfect daughter."

"There has to be something you're not seeing," Maura said.  
>"Yeah… but what?"<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Maura took a step back to watch Jane work. She looked so beautiful, even though Maura could tell she was exhausted. She was not expecting the confession Jane had made to her the night before outside Emmet's. Surprisingly though, she wasn't taken aback at all. If anything, it made Maura want to get to know Jane even more.

Maura couldn't exactly remember the last time she was in a relationship. She had been on dates, plenty of them, but all of them left her running for the hills. The men she dated either didn't understand how her brain worked, or they sat there quietly eating their meals with nothing to talk about. It's not like all of her relationships in the past had failed. There were a couple of them that she remembered quite fondly, but they would eventually dwindle and fade away into nothing.

For some reason, Maura felt a strong gravitation towards Jane. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was intrigued. Something about Jane's personality made Maura want to be around her all the time. Although she had been in several relationships in the past, none of them were with women. "**Maybe Jane can be the game changer,"** Maura thought to herself. **"It's not like she's unattractive."** She didn't know how get Jane to look at her, let alone listen to her. She needed to tell Jane that everything was okay, and that she wanted to be friends. Everything about Jane was so closed off. It was almost impossible to read what she was thinking. But if Maura knew one thing, it was that Jane needed a friend.

"Listen, Jane," Maura started, "I know you said you don't want to talk about it, so you don't have to. Just listen to what I have to say."

Jane tried to interrupt, but she went on with her speech.

"When I moved to Boston, I was all alone and didn't know anyone. It was such a big city that I was intimidated to even leave my apartment most of the time. I know you're not exactly new here, but I also think you could use a friend. I'm willing to be that friend for you Jane. There are things in your past that I can tell are still haunting you. I don't know what happened all those years ago, or why you decided to move away from here, but I know that it couldn't have been good. You need to know that if you need someone to talk to, I will be there to listen. Nothing else matters to me. Not who you are attracted to, not your family, not even your "badass" attitude. You could use a friend, and so could I. So please, let's be friends. I would really like to get to know you better."

Jane stared at her, speechless. How could anybody still want to be friends with her after what happened at Emmet's last night? On top of being rude, she told a complete stranger that she was gay and that it was likely that if Maura continued to be nice to her, she would fall for her. It was almost impossible to meet a straight person who would still want to be friends with someone who told them they were going to fall in love with them. Jane was starting to realize that Maura was not like everybody else she had met in her life, even though it was only the second day they had ever talked. It was refreshing to Jane. And Maura was right about one thing she could definitely use a friend.

"Thank you, Maura." Jane smiled at her and pulled out a chair so that Maura could sit next to her and look over the case file. Maybe if there were two eyes trying to figure out what happened, they would come to some sort of conclusion faster than if it was just Jane.

After reading and re-reading all the evidence the detectives had collected, the verdict of Carrie's death became clear to Jane and Maura. The bullet that Maura had found lodged in Carrie's chest was from a Colt Automatic pistol, .22 calibers—which was registered to a Mr. Harry Cauldrin, Lily's father.

"So, Carrie an Lilly liked the same guy, Dennis Williams, but Dennis was going to Carrie, not Lily," Jane speculated.

"When Lily found out that Dennis liked Carrie and not her, she got angry because he was wasting his time on someone who didn't care about him," Maura continued, "So she stole her father's gun and shot her "best friend" right in the chest."

"Yeah, some best friend," Jane said, shaking her head.

"But where did she stash the pistol?" Maura asked.

"I don't know, but let's go find out." Jane picked up her phone and called Frost. "Come on Frost," she said into the receiver, "I think Maura and I cracked the Myers case and you're going to help bring her in."

It didn't take long to get Lily Cauldrin to confess what she did. "I didn't want to kill her," she sobbed, "I just wanted to tell her that what she was doing to Dennis was wrong."

"So shooting her was the right thing to do?" Jane asked, not believing a word Lily was saying to her.

"My finger slipped." Was the reply she gave. It was like she was a sociopath who didn't realize that she had just murdered her best friend over a guy, and now that friend was never going to come back.

"Well, that slip of a finger she landed you 120 months in state federal prison," Frost told Lily, knocking on the door for the cops to come and take her away.

Jane was exhausted. It had been a long day and all she wanted to do was get in bed and sleep for hours. Tomorrow was her day off. She rarely got those, but since she was just starting at the Boston PD again, the chief decided to give her a little bit of a break. She was looking forward to spending the day with her family. It would give her a chance to catch up with her father, and figure out how he was really doing, despite what he or her mother said.

She was on her way out when Maura's voice stopped her at the exit of the building.

"Hey Jane, wait up." Maura picked up her speed, wanting to catch Jane before she went home for the weekend.

"If you're not busy tomorrow, do you want to get some lunch or something? Maybe try out this whole friend thing again?"

Jane hesitated, thought about it for a second. She remembered everything Maura had said to her earlier that day, about needing a friend, wanting a friend. Jane completely reciprocated the feelings. And even though she was afraid, she knew that Maura was not somebody she wanted to let go of so easily.

"Sure, Maura," Jane smiled, "Tomorrow sounds nice. Meet me at my house around 12:30."

She told her where she lived, got into her car, and drove away. It seemed to Jane that moving back to Boston was turning out to be the right decision after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Jane was woken up in the middle of the night by her cell phone ringing. She rubbed her eyes, turned over, and picked it up. The clock on her bedside table said 1:30 a.m.

"Rizzoli," She answered the phone mid yawn. "Whoa. Frost, hold on. Slow down. All right, all right. I'll be right there."

She got up, got dressed, and rushed to the address Frost gave her. Something was very wrong. She felt it everywhere in her body.

She got to the house, and told the detective who was already there that the commander gave her clearance. This was her first major homicide case since she had been back and she wasn't about to let anyone take it from her. She looked around outside, and saw Frost over by the bushes, puking his guts out.

"You coming detective?" She asked him, walking up the front stairs and into the foyer of the three story Bostonian mansion. Maura and Korsak were already in the living room. Maura was examining the tied up body on the couch, and Korsak was standing off to the side, looking more worried than he should.

"What do we got?" Jane said, walking into the living room where the crime scene was.

"The victim's wife is missing," Korsak told Jane as she studied the body.

"What, she wasn't happy with the way they were living so she whacked her husband and walked out?" Jane speculated, a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"That was my initial reaction," Korsak said, "but we found signs of forced injury."

"It's odd how precise the incision is. Whoever did this definitely wasn't an amateur." Maura looked up from her work to give some input on what she had found.

"The man is tied up and posed on the couch, the woman is missing…" Jane was talking out loud, to nobody in particular. She crouched down to see if she could find any more evidence. Under the coffee table, she found a teacup lying on its side. It was not shattered, as if it had been placed there on purpose.

"And there's a teacup." She looked up. Fear covered every inch of her face.

Right on cue, her mind reeled backwards and she was in her past. As much as she didn't want to be, she was right in the moment. She sat down on the couch, and put her head in her hands. "This is not good." She whispered aloud; again, to no one in particular.

_She was in an empty hallway, going downstairs into the basement. Her gun was out in front of her, and as she moved forward, she heard a woman trying to scream. In the corner of the room, she saw the woman bound and tied up. Tape around her mouth, rope around her wrists and legs, and she was naked._

"Is he out?" Jane practically yelled at Korsak. "Is the surgeon out Korsak?"

"No. I just spoke to the prison authorities and he was in lockdown."

"What's going on?" Maura asked the detectives. She had never seen Jane like this. Had never even heard of her like this. All anyone ever said about Jane was that she was the bravest, smartest detective in the field. She knew that something had happened to her, nobody ever gave her any details about why Jane had left the unit.

"It looks like Hoyt. Right Jane?" Korsak looked at her.

"Yeah. I thought we put that mental case behind bars. How the hell is this happening again? It's his exact M.O!"

Jane looked at the body more carefully. There were parts of the previous murders that were never released to the public. Jane took a deep breath. She wasn't ready for this to be happening to her again. She had moved away to get rid of her past- to start over completely. To forget everything that had happened to her. And now, it was happening all over again.

"Hoyt's trained an apprentice." Jane looked to Korsak, then Maura, then back again at Korsak. She swallowed hard. It was going to be a long night.

Maura finished examining the body and writing the report. She still didn't know what was going on, but Jane was in the next room talking quietly to detectives Kosak and Frost. This had to have something to do with what happened to Jane, she thought. Why else would she be acting this way? Why else would she show how scared she was? It was so out of character for Jane.

She walked over to the three detectives and tried to listen to their conversation. She caught phrases, but mostly what she got out of what they were saying was that they were going to send two uniforms to patrol outside of Jane's house. When Frost and Korsak left, Maura walked up to where Jane was standing.

"Can you fill me in on what's going on?"

Jane didn't want to talk about it with Maura. She was the one person who knew Jane as being only strong. She didn't want Maura to think that Jane was not cut out for the job because of what happened to her. She wanted Maura to feel safe around her, not feel pity for her every time something like this happened. But she could tell from the look on Maura's face that she really wanted to know. Plus, she was the coroner on the case, she needed to know just as much as Jane and Frost did if they wanted to have any chance of finding Hoyt's apprentice quickly.

She grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her outside and into her car. She wasn't about to tell her entire past in front of every cop that was out there. They all thought she was weak already. And she knew that if she started talking to Maura there, she was going to break down. She turned on the car and started driving to the only place she knew was still open.

The parking lot of Emmett's was basically empty. Jane pulled into the spot in front of the door, and got out of the car.

"What are we doing here?" Maura asked confused.

"No one I know is going to be here this late," Jane said, "And if I'm going to tell you what's going on, I'm going to do it with a drink in my hand."

"There had been 5 killings just like the one you saw tonight," Jane started explaining after they had both ordered some drinks from the bar. "Korsak and I were working every one, and each time we got closer and closer to finding out who was doing them. Then one night, the killer found me."

Jane put her thumb and pointer finger in the corners of her eyes. She was exhausted and had a headache. This was the last thing she wanted to be doing, but she had already started telling Maura and now had no choice but to finish it.

" I was in the basement of a cruddy apartment building, looking for a woman who I could hear screaming. It was dark, so I could barely see, but I thought I saw a figure in the corner of the room who was all tied up. I started to move towards her, and before I knew it someone was hitting me in the head with a ply of wood and I was on the ground. When I woke up, he was standing over me with MY gun pointed right at me. But we were no longer in the apartment building basement."

Jane took a second to look at Maura's face. She looked concerned, and maybe even frightened. There was something else on her face also. Pity maybe? Jane didn't want that. She didn't want anybody to feel sorry for her. What happened to her, although terrified her for years, and still does, made her a stronger person. She was determined to make sure Hoyt ended up dead. And soon.

"He took me to some secret location right outside of Boston where he could torture me without anyone hearing me scream. The harder I fought him, the harder he hit me. The more I squirmed, the tighter he pulled the ropes around my body. At times, I would black out from him abusing me so much, and when I woke up, he was on top of me, inside of me. When I wouldn't look at his face while he raped me, he would dig himself in deeper and cut my neck until I looked. He took me as his prisoner, and I was to do whatever he said. Sometimes I just wanted him to kill me. Other times, I gathered up the strength to spit in his face, to whip my arms up so that I could smack that smug little grin off his face. But most of the time, I prayed for him to kill me. I couldn't bare to let him do what he was doing to me any longer, but since no one could find us, I didn't have a choice. It took the BPD about 5 days to finally get to me and to arrest Hoyt. I was a complete wreck."

She closed her eyes and saw everything as if it was happening to her at that very moment. She could feel his breath on her neck, feel his hand slap her across her face. She could feel him inside of her, ripping her to shreds little by little.

When she opened her eyes, Maura was looking at her, tears streaming down her face. Jane looked down and saw that Maura's hand was on hers. She didn't want to make Maura cry, but she asked what happened, and once Jane started talking about it, she couldn't stop no matter how much her brain was telling her mouth to shut up about it.

"So that's why you left?" Maura asked, her hand still on Jane's.

Jane shivered a little, suddenly feeling the draft in the room.

"That's why I left. I had to get away from it all. I couldn't stay here and be reminded of it.. of him, every day of my life."

Maura got up and put on her coat. She could tell by the look on Jane's face that she was exhausted, and after that story they both needed to get some sleep. But there was no way Maura was going to let Jane go home alone tonight. Not after hearing what that maniac did to her and knowing that it was possible he was loose again.

"Come on Jane, let's get you home," they walked out of the bar, hand in hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Jane spent all night tossing and turning. She wasn't surprised. She couldn't expect herself to sleep after finding out that Hoyt was killing again. Rehashing her past to Dr. Isles didn't help either. She couldn't keep Maura in the dark; after all, they did work together.

Maura. She completely forgot that she had taken her home last night, and by the time they got back to Jane's house it was too late for her to go back to her own. After much insisting on both Jane and her mother's part, Maura stayed the night in their guest room. Jane wondered if Maura got any sleep last night as she got up and went downstairs.

Angela Rizzoli and Maura were sitting at the table drinking coffee and quietly talking to each other under their breath. As soon as Jane walked in, the hushed talking stopped and both women plastered fake smiles onto their faces.

"Don't stop scheming on my account," Jane told them, "I know you're planning on how to keep me home today. It's not going to happen."

"Be logical Jane," Angela pleaded, "how could you even think about leaving the house with that killer on the loose?

"He's not on the loose ma, he's in lockdown. And I think it's about time I gave him a little visit."

"You can't be serious-" Maura started

"I can't let fear rule me anymore. I can't be afraid of him any longer. I need him to know that he is not the best of me. That he doesn't have me, and that he doesn't affect me."

"But that can't be true." Maura looked at Jane straight in the eye. It's like she could see right through her, past all the strength she showed on the outside, and into the fear she felt deep inside.

"It has to be true." Jane told them both.

They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. Jane was thinking about what her day at work would be like. Everybody would be looking at her with pity in their eyes. Everybody would be scared for her. She couldn't have that. She needed the people she worked with to think of her as strong, to think of her as a leader. She was scared, but she couldn't let anyone know that. Especially not Hoyt. He needed to be scared of her for once. By the time Maura and Jane left for the precinct, Jane had decided that she would visit Hoyt in prison before the day was done.

Getting through work was tough. The case from the night before was a blur, and it was almost impossible for her to concentrate on it because someone would walk in to check on her every 15 minutes. Korsak had Frost pinned to Jane's side. The only way she could get away from him was if she went to the bathroom, and even then Maura would come in, coincidentally needing to wash her hands or brush her teeth. Jane felt like a prisoner, and she was starting to get very sick of it.

When she had finally had enough she went off on the closest person to her at the moment. Unfortunately, it was Maura.

"I'm not a three year old you know!" she said coming out of the bathroom stall, "I don't need someone trailing my every move. Hoyt isn't going to get into this building without getting shot down at the door."

"It's not him getting into the building that anyone is worried about Jane. It's you getting out," Maura replied coolly.

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"People are just worried about you. No one wants you to get hurt again."

"I'm fine! I want him dead. I want to kill him myself, but I'm fine. I won't sit and cower in the corner like people expect me to."

Maura stepped closer to Jane.

"It's alright to be afraid you know."  
>"I'm not afraid. I'm angry."<p>

"I know," Maura said grabbing Jane's hand, "but it's alright to be."

Jane dropped her hand to her said. That was unexpected. She didn't know what to think of it, but she couldn't worry about what it meant. Right now, what she needed to do was figure out how to get to the prison without anyone stopping her. She was pretty sure Maura would understand her need to face him, and so would Frankie, but she was positive they wouldn't let her go alone.

"Jane?" Maura was looking at her with a worried look on her face and Jane realized they were still standing in the bathroom.

"Thank you." Was all she could think to say. It was weird having someone she barely knew be so nice to her.

They left the bathroom and went back to Jane's desk. Maura had her assistant examining the victim from last night's body. She wanted to make sure she could keep an eye on Jane. Maura knew Jane wasn't going to let the whole Hoyt thing go without a fight. It was obvious that Jane was going to see him today, and there was nothing Maura could do to stop that, but Jane was naïve if she thought Maura wasn't going to be there with her.

The day seemed to drag on forever. Jane couldn't wan to get away from everyone at work. After their talk in the bathroom, Maura seemed to back down a little, but she still kept an eye on Jane; as did Frost and Korsak. Eventually, she gave up on going to see Hoyt on her own. Maura told Frankie what Jane was thinking, and he cornered her. She had no choice but to have him go with her, and somehow Maura wrestled her way into that equation as well.

The three of them left the Boston PD together. Jane was anxious to get to the prison. As much as she wanted to see Hoyt and prove to him that she wasn't afraid anymore, she wanted the visit to be over. Besides proving that, she ahd a vase to solve. And Hoyt was the main suspect.

She had been there many times before, but this time the prison looked completely foreign to her. As soon s she entered the room she was meeting him in, a shudder ran up her spine. She shook off the feeling, but all of a sudden she was glad that Maura and Frankie were there with her.

"Jane Rizzoli. You look just as beautiful as I remember." Hoyt was being led in by two guards. His gray hair was more prominent than Jane remembered, but he had the same maniacal smirk on his face; as if he never stopped smiling after what he did to Jane.

"Who do you have working for you, Hoyt?" She practically lunged at him from across the room.

"I don't know what you're talking about detective," he said slyly.

"Don't lie to me Hoyt! Someone is out there doing your dirty work! Who did you train?" She could feel her cheeks turning red and had to tell herself to calm down.

All of a sudden Hoyt's eyes moved from Jane, to the one other woman in the room with them.

"Well well." he whispered, "who did you bring for me to play with Janie? Tell her to come closer so that I can give her lovely face a better look."

"DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT! DON'T YOU EVEN LOOK AT HER!" Before Jane knew what she was doing, she had lunged across the room, grabbed Hoyt around the neck, and pinned him to the wall. Her grip was so tight around him that he was turning purple. Se knew she had to let go before a security guard escorted her out of the building.

"Ah," said Hoyt, "It seems I struck a nerve with you, detective Rizzoli."

Jane let go and backed away. _**Where the hell did that come from? **_She thought to herself. As she turned around to compose herself, the look on Maura's face said the same thing Jane was thinking.


	8. Chapter 8

They left the prison with no more information than they went in with. After Jane's outburst, the three of them were escorted out of the building by two guards who told them not to come back until "the brunette could control her temper." Jane acted unprofessionally and she knew it. Everything that she wanted to do, she failed at. Instead of making Hoyt realize that she wasn't afraid of him any longer, she showed him her one weakness—Maura.

She couldn't fully understand where that impulse came from. Jane had always been a protective person, especially towards people she loved, but she barely even knew Maura. Hoyt smirked the whole time Jane had him pinned to the wall. She could practically see his thoughts plastered all over his face, and they made her sick. The thought of Hoyt attacking Maura the way he attacked Jane made her want to punch a wall.

Frankie, Jane, and Maura walked back to the Rizzoli house in silence. Maura looked shaken up, and Frankie was just happy they got kicked out before Jane did something even more rash and impulsive.

"I think I should go home," Maura said when they finally arrived, "I stayed here last night and no one was at my apartment to feed Bass."

"I'll drive you," Jane said.

"I can walk. You've had along day and I know you're tired."

"No, I'll drive you," Jane repeated again; she was clearly worried about Maura now that Hoyt knew what she looked like.

They got into the car and didn't say a word the whole way to Maura's. Jane was embarrassed and confused, and she could only imagine what Maura was feeling.

"Okay," Jane said when they were parked outside Maura's building, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Maura just sat there staring out the front window. She was locked in place. Not able to move, or talk, or feel. She had never been speechless before, but it was exactly how she had been feeling since the moment Jane threatened Hoyt on her behalf, and it all started to sink in.

When she got up the courage, she swallowed and turned to Jane.

"No one has ever done something like that for me before."  
>"Like what?"<p>

"Tried to protect me."

"It was an instinct."  
>"It was more than that, Jane," Maura said looking into her eyes.<p>

A shiver shot up Jane's spine and down her arms. Every time Maura looked into her eyes, she felt that shiver. Maura saw the true Jane in a way no one else ever had. Not even Kate Beckett.

"Why did you do it Jane? What happened in there that made you react like that?"

"I don't know."  
>"I think you do though," Maura continued to look straight at Jane, "I think you do, but you're just too scared to feel the way you're feeling.<p>

Jane had to look away. It was too much for her to handle. So much had happened in that one day and she knew if Maura continued talking the way she was, Jane was going to do something that she knew she would eventually end up regretting; But at that moment, the feeling of being wanted was much stronger than the little voice in the back of her head telling her that she couldn't do what she was about to do.

Before Maura could open the car door, Jane grabbed her arm and pulled herself closer to Maura. Her heart was beating faster than humanly possible, or at least, that's what it felt like to Jane. This moment could make or break her relationship with Maura. It wasn't the right time, given the past couple days both Jane and Maura had been through, but she needed to know if Maura felt even a fraction of the way Jane did.

She leaned in closer to Maura and lightly kissed her. Something Jane hadn't felt in a long time filled her body. When Maura didn't pull away immediately, the kiss became more passionate, but still soft and sweet, and sort of tentative. When it was done, their faces lingered close to each other, neither one of them sure what they should do next.

Maura's eyes were closed. Her face was so close to Jane's that she could still feel Jane's breath on her lips. She wasn't expecting what had just happened. In fact, it was the last thing she thought Jane would do. She opened her eyes when she felt Jane backing away.

"I'm sorry," Jane said, "I shouldn't have done that."

Maura smiled inwardly. It was the second time Jane did something without thinking that day. She was starting to realize that Jane was full of little surprises; and Maura wanted to be around to witness all of them.

"I'm not sorry," Maura said smiling at Jane and setting her hand on Jane's leg. She leaned over to Jane's side of the car, and kissed her again.

"Do you want to come up for a bit?"


	9. Chapter 9

Maura's house looked exactly how Jane expected it to look. Everything was put away nice and neatly exactly where it belonged. There were walls and walls full of medical books and dictionaries, and other walls with original paintings by famous artists. Jane was surprised at how big the space was. She didn't expect Maura to live in such a lavish place, even though practically every time she saw her she was dressed nicely.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Maura asked Jane, smiling at the look on Jane's face.

"I'll take a beer if you have one."

Maura went into the kitchen and Jane sat down on the couch. She couldn't help but think about the kiss in the car. Maura kissed her back, and she even went in for a second kiss. What did it mean? For all Jane knew, Maura was straight. Jane had heard horror stories from her friends about straight women who used gay women as an experiment. A one-night rendezvous, and then they never heard from them again. Maura didn't strike Jane as that kind of person, but she sure as hell wasn't about to be someone's one-night experiment.

"Sorry, no beer." Maura came into the room holding two glasses of red wine.

Jane almost never drank wine; not unless it was a special occasion. This made Jane's mind start to race. What did Maura want from her?

Maura sat down on the couch next to Jane and started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Jane said after taking a sip of her wine.

"Did I dribble or something?"

This made Maura laugh even harder.

"No, you should see the look on your face right now," she said in between hysterics, "You look like a kid waiting in line for his first real roller coaster." Maura continued laughing.

Something about the way she said it and her laughter made Jane stop laughing too. It was contagious.

All of a sudden Jane spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh my god, what is that?" She asked laughing harder and almost spitting out her wine.

"That's Bass," Maura said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You have a turtle?" Jane asked.

"Tortoise!" Maura started telling Jane about how they were very good pets to have and they didn't make any mess.

"You couldn't have had a normal pet? Like a dog.. or a fish?"

"Bass is just as amiable as a dog," Maura answered matter of factly.

"I just didn't expect you to have a turtle."  
>"Tortoise!" Maura said again.<p>

"Right, tortoise," Jane smirked. She couldn't help but notice how cute Maura got when she was frustrated.

They were sitting on the couch, not facing each other, not talking; just sitting there. There was a certain comfort in the air, but at the same time Jane was uncomfortable. She didn't know what she was doing on Maura's couch, or how she even got there. All she knew was that they kissed, and that scared her.

"What are we doing?" Jane finally asked when her nerves got the best of her.

"Sitting on my couch and drinking wine," Maura raised her eyebrows, "Come on Rizzoli, I thought you were a detective."

Jane gave Maura a look, but she couldn't help but smile.

"No, really," she got more serious, "what are we doing? We just kissed twice, and you like men."

"You have no idea what gender I like. You've never asked."

"Fine, do you like men?" Jane asked sarcastically.

"Usually," Maura replied.

"Oh." She had to look away.

They sat there silently, again. Jane didn't know why she was surprised. Maura looked and acted like the straightest person Jane had ever seen. But because of the connection Jane felt to her, she had to hope. She stood up to leave right before Maura started talking.

"Usually, I like men. I'm attracted to them. But as soon as I met you at the precinct, I felt some sort of connection to you. I can't explain it. I just, want to know you. I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I want to know your secrets and your fears. I can't explain it. That's just how it is."

Jane sat down on the couch again. Hearing that from Maura made her stomach flip over and over, and she could hear her heart pounding all the way in her head.

"But you could only ever be friends with me. I can't give you what you want in a relationship. You're used to men. You are attracted to men. And I am definitely not a man. I cannot let myself get too close to you or my heart will break."

"Whoa, slow down," Maura looked at her, "Why are you so focused on the fact that I like men? Gender doesn't matter to me. If I like you, I like you. I want to get to know you Jane. You are one of the most interesting people I have ever met, and I would really like to keep you in my life."

"Well, okay then." Jane smiled, finishing off her wine.

"And besides," Maura said nudging Jane's leg with hers, "You're gorgeous my friend."

At that, Jane blushed. She was falling hard for Maura and she couldn't seem to stop herself. This woman was everything she wanted, but she knew she had to be careful.

They spent the rest of the night talking about everything and anything they could think of. Maura told Jane about where she grew up, her family, and how she spent most of her teenage years trying to find out who her biological parents were. Jane told Maura about her younger days at the academy, when she realized that she was gay and how she was too scared to tell her mom and dad, her life in New York, and Kate; leaving out most of the details, of course.

Before they knew it, it was 10:30 pm. They had spent five hours talking, neither one of them paying attention to the time.

"It's getting late." Jane said, standing up. She hadn't noticed how much wine she had been drinking until she stood up and felt a little wobbly.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Maura said standing up as well.

Jane yawned. "It's been a long day. I should get home if I'm going to get any work done tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you should." Maura could feel all the blood rushing to her head. She walked Jane to the door, handing her jacket over.

"Well, good night then Detective Rizzoli." Maura said smiling, with her back to the door.

"Good night, Maura."

She worked around Maura and opened the door slightly. All of a sudden they were kissing again. Jane didn't know how it happened, but she had a feeling it was the wine giving her the courage to do something she would have never done if she were more sober.

The kiss was not like the kiss they shared in the car. It was more passionate; there was more desire in it. Jane felt warm all over, which made her never want to stop kissing Maura. She had Maura pinned to the door, pretty much forcing it to shut. With that sound, Jane stopped kissing her.

"I have to go home," she said trying to catch her breath and smiling.

"Or, you know, you could stay." Maura slipped out around Jane and started walking to her bedroom.

Right before she got to the door, she looked over her shoulder with a smile on her face.

"You coming?"

Jane stepped away from the door and followed behind Maura. There was no way she could resist.


	10. Chapter 10

Jane gasped out loud as Maura gently pulled her shirt over her head. She was in between Jane and the wall, and Jane's hands were on both sides of her, blocking her from getting anywhere. Jane moved her right hand off the wall and rubbed up and down Maura's side with the back of her fingers. She could feel Maura quiver with every touch.

**This is it**, Jane thought. It was all or nothing and Jane was not about to give up right now.

She slowly glided her hands up Maura's back and unclasped her bra, while Maura started unbuttoning Jane's shirt. As Jane shook her shirt off her back, she slowly started kissing Maura's neck, breathing softly on it and her ear.

"Is this okay?" Jane whispered, nervous about whether or not Maura liked what was happening.

"It's perfect, please don't stop," Maura said, urging Jane to continue on her neck and throwing her head back. Jane helped guide Maura to the bed, and lay down on top of her. She continued kissing Maura's neck, working her way down to her shoulder blade. She had to keep reminding herself that she had done this before and Maura hadn't; and although she didn't hear Maura protesting, she wanted to make sure not to overstep her boundaries.

Making her way to Maura's chest, Jane could feel her heart start to pound. It had been a while since she had gotten anywhere this close to a woman, but she didn't remember feeling anywhere near this nervous before. As soon as Jane's mouth wrapped around Maura's nipple, she let out a small moan that made Jane go crazy. She kissed down Maura's stomach, slowly, teasing her body. Every time Jane she got close to her panty-line, Maura would arch up her back, and slightly thrust her hips, urging Jane to go on. Jane teased her a little bit, kissing around the panty-line and then making her way back up to Maura's chest. When Maura was practically begging, Jane slowly slipped off her underwear, and kissed down Maura's thigh.

She could feel Maura's warmness on her lips as she got closer and closer to Maura's middle. She went slowly so that she could gage what Maura liked, and what she didn't. When Jane would kiss her inner thigh, the tiny moans that escaped Maura's lips got louder. When she ran her finger up and down Maura's leg, her body would shake. Jane kept mental notes as she went along. She wanted to make Maura feel as good as possible for as long as possible, and if that meant continuing to tease her, that is what she was going to do.

When Jane thought Maura couldn't take the teasing any longer, she slipped two fingers inside of her. Maura sucked air in hard. Jane had never felt a woman so wet before. She pumped in and out with her fingers, gauging how fast she should go with how fast Maura moved her hips. Soon they were in the perfect rhythm. Once Jane could feel Maura getting close, she slid her tongue up and down Maura's clit while she pumped her fingers in and out.

"Ohgod," Maura moaned as she felt Jane's tongue on her body.

"Ohgod Jane, please don't stop."

Jane moved her tongue around Maura's clit a few more times until she felt Maura's body shake uncontrollably, climax, and then go limp on the bed.

Jane suddenly remembered the first time she ever had sex with a woman. She was terrified, but at the same time it was the greatest thing she had ever experienced. She looked at Maura's face, and smiled when she realized that everything she had felt that one night long ago, Maura was feeling right at that moment; and Jane was the one who made her feel that way.

A few minutes later Maura was laying naked on her left side, and Jane was on her back next to her, tucking a piece of stray hair on Maura's face behind her ear.

"Wow," Maura said, half in a whisper, half out loud.

"Yeah?" Jane asked, smiling and raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, wow." Maura repeated, not sure what words to use to express the feelings she was having.

"Was it what you expected it to be?" Jane asked, wanting to know exactly what Maura was thinking.

"It was not even close. It was so much better. It was terrifying, and wonderful, and just all together incredible. I never thought that I would be able to enjoy sex with a woman Jane. I never thought that it was something that would make me feel satisfied, but boy if I had known that that's what sex with a woman was like, I would have done it a long time ago."

Jane laughed, "Well, I'm really glad you didn't."

Maura smiled and kissed Jane softly on the lips.

"You really are beautiful, Jane," Maura said looking into her eyes.

Jane shivered the same way she did whenever Maura stared right at her.

"You're crazy," Jane said kissing Maura's lips again, "nobody is as gorgeous as you are."

As soon as she finished that sentence, her cell phone started ringing.

"Nooooo," Jane said, "I'll let it go to voicemail." Maura got under the covers and rested her head on Jane's stomach. She started to doze off, when Jane's phone rang again.

"God damn it, it's almost 1 in the morning, who could possibly be calling me right now?" Jane reached over Maura to the night table and grabbed her phone not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Rizzoli," Jane answered, "Frankie? What's going on, I can barely hear you."

"What? Dad's where?" Her hand went up and covered her mouth.

"What hospital are you at?"

Maura shot straight up and looked at Jane.

"Okay. Alright, I'll be right there."


	11. Chapter 11

Two Months Later…

Jane looked around and saw nothing but grass, trees and sky. It was somewhat peaceful where she was, despite the location and the situation. She couldn't get herself to say what was happening. She didn't want to believe it. It all happened so fast. She got the phone call from Frankie, and after that, well… she didn't remember much of anything after that. The night was now a blur in Jane's memory.

She put flowers down on her father's grave and started to walk away. Despite the urge she had to turn around and walk back, to sit down next to him and tell him all about her life for the past two months, she couldn't. She couldn't talk to an empty space; a hollow stone with her father's body underneath it was not her father. She would never get to talk to him again. She left the cemetery gates and walked to the car where Maura was waiting patiently.

"Jane, are you okay?" Maura could see the look on Jane's face from across the lot.

"Please, let's just go." Jane said as she looked out the front window. It had been two months. Two months of devastation after her father's death. Two months of her watching her mom cry herself to sleep every night, two months of Jane consoling her, telling her that everything would be okay, even though she wasn't so sure of that herself. But in those two months, Jane and Maura had gotten closer than ever.

Maura pulled up in front of the Boston Police Department and parked her car in her usual spot.

"What are we doing here?" Jane asked. She thought they would just go back to Maura's place like they usually did. It had become sort of a routine.

"I figured this would take your mind off things for a while. I know you've had a rough couple of weeks and you've missed a lot of work."

"Thank you," Jane said kissing Maura on the cheek, "You're right, this is probably exactly what I need."

They got out of the car and walked into the building. Although they had been dating for a little over a month, nobody knew about them yet. They weren't sure about telling people at the work place. Maura was new to the whole thing, and Jane would have much rather not had anyone in her personal life if she could help it. It would come out, eventually, and they all knew that; but they were going to keep it in as long as possible, just to keep things simple.

"See you later Doctor Isles," Jane said getting into the elevator and giving Maura a sincere smile.

"See you later Detective Rizzoli," Maura said getting into the elevator across the way and going down instead of up.

"And Jane?" Maura said before the doors closed.

Jane looked up from her phone.

"If you need anything, I'm here for you. You know that, right?"

"I know," Jane said nodding and smiling. "See you in a bit."

A couple hours later they were standing in an alley. Jane was looking down at a young woman who had been hit over her head and bled out.

"She was dragged here, and sexually assaulted," Jane said kneeling down and looking at the open wallet lying beside the dead body. "Gina Randall."

"She was a lawyer," Frost added, "And a pretty good one at that. Ballistics ran a background check on her."  
>"Do we know the time of death?"<p>

"She must have died between the hours of 12 and 2 in the morning," Maura said examining the body, "She was diabetic, and has an insulin pump, but her levels are still extremely high."

"She was married," Jane said, spotting a ring on her finger."

"The weapon had a rectangular edge. You can tell by the marks on her forehead."

"What, like a 2x4?" Jane asked Maura.

"I can't confirm or deny the weapon before I run more tests," Maura said, "I need to be sure."

Jane raised her eyebrows at Maura and smirked.

"Guess," Jane said.

"I don't guess," Maura replied, standing up and looking around for any more evidence she could find about the victim's murder.

"Hey Frost, we're looking for a 2x4," Jane said.

Before she could even finish her sentence, Frost pulled out a piece of plywood from behind a dumpster. The corner was drenched in blood.

"Hey Frost, we're looking for an idiot," Jane scowled as she bent down to examine the victim's body more closely.

"The victim was young, and wealthy," Jane speculated, "You think this was all planned by the husband to get her money when she died?"

"Uh, Jane?" Maura looked straight at Jane, trying to convey something to her with the look in her eyes, "You might want to look at this."

Jane walked over to Maura and looked over her shoulder at the iPad Maura was holding.

"Oh wow. It looks like it wasn't the husband after all," Jane sighed.

"What, why not?" Frost asked, walking over to them.

"Because she didn't have one."

The three of them were looking at a picture on the iPad of Gina's wedding day. But instead of a man standing in a suit next to her, it was a woman, in a wedding dress. The two women looked very happy, and were surrounded by family all around them.

"Gina Randall was married to a woman," Frost said.

"Looks like we might have ourselves a hate crime," Jane said handing the iPad back to Maura, "And our day just got much more interesting."

It took everything in Jane's power not to break down while she was talking to the victim's wife. She knew what she was going through. It was horrible losing someone you loved, and Jane couldn't ever imagine losing a partner. Not like that. Gina's wife was crying the whole time she was in the interrogation room. There was nothing Jane could have said to make her calm down, and Frost continuously telling her that they needed to confirm her alibi wasn't helping.

"I understand," Mrs. Randall said, "The spouse is always the first suspect."

Jane looked at the crying widow and grabbed her hand.

"I assure you, Mrs. Randall, the BPD and I are going to do whatever it takes to find out who did this to your wife."

"Thank you detective."

Through all the evidence they had collected throughout the day, the detectives found out that Gina was cheating on her wife and was at a club in downtown Boston at least once a week. Jane and Frost had gone to the bar and talked to the owner, but she couldn't give them much information that they didn't already know. Apparently, Randall was seen at that bar multiple times, with multiple different women.

"So now the wife has motive," Frost said.

"If she knew about it," Jane replied, "But come on Frost, you saw her. She was beside herself and has a solid alibi."

Jane didn't want to believe that someone would kill their own spouse, even though she had seen it multiple times before.

"I think I'll come by later tonight and check this place out," Jane said to Frost when they got back to the police department.

"What, like, undercover?" Frost asked, liking the idea of seeing Jane work undercover. He had heard that she was one of the best undercover detectives out there, and now he would get to see it in person.

"Yeah, like undercover," Jane said, mocking Frost's look of confusion and excitement.

"You're going undercover?" Maura asked walking up. She had overheard their conversation from across the cafeteria where she was getting coffee.

"Yes, I am," Jane said smiling at her, "And you're coming with me."


End file.
